All Adult Books, an LGBT-friendly adult bookstore, opened at 3141 West 25th Street sometime between 1968/1969. All Adult Bookstore featured private video viewing booths that became a popular and well-known cruising destination. Like other adult book and video stores of its time, All Adult Bookstore was subject to numerous anti-obscenity raids (many of which led to the arrests of both employees and patrons) by the Cleveland Police Department’s Vice Squads from the late 1960s through the early 2000s. In 1977, the All Adult Book Store was the first of several business to be targeted by George J. Cicero (a disgruntled “former schoolteacher and right-wing activist”) and an unknown accomplice in a series of pipe bombing incidents that shook the greater Cleveland area. On June 18, 1977, Cicero planted a pipe bomb on the store’s roof caused considerable damage to the building’s exterior when it detonated in the early morning hours. A second pipe bomb, planted a year later on August 1st, 1978, ripped the back door off of the building when it exploded behind the store in the early afternoon. Cicero was linked to at least 14 other Cleveland-area pipe bombing incidents between 1977-1978 (7 of which were planted at “area schools”, 2 at “porn shops,” 3 at adult book stores, 1 at a “board of education building,” and 1 at a Xerox warehouse). Despite continued run-ins with the local law enforcement and anti-obscenity legislation over the years, All Adult Bookstore (later operating as All Adult Video) continued operating into the mid-2000s.
Additional information coming soon.
Resources
- “2 Book Store Owners Indicted.” Plain Dealer. June 15, 1969.
- “4 Charged After Raids on Adult Bookstores.” Plain Dealer. August 5, 1987.
- “8 More Bookstores Under Fire.” Plain Dealer. April 14, 1972.
- Bean, Donald L., and John P. Coyne. “Bomb Suspect Charged; Police Hunting 2nd Person.” Plain Dealer. August 4, 1978.
- “Bookstore Bomber Hits Again; Gym Bag Only Missing Clue.” Plain Dealer. August 2, 1978.
- Brett, Regina. “Take Another Looks At Peep-Show Law.” Plain Dealer. June 15, 2005.
- “Charge Pornography – Police Seize Tons of Books.” Plain Dealer. May 6, 1969.
- Coyne, John P., and Mary John Woge. “Shy, Elusive Bomber Puzzles City Police.” Plain Dealer. April 23, 1978.
- Coyne, John P., and John Oller. “Police Search Yields 3 Bombs.” Plain Dealer. August 3, 1978.
- “Grand Jury Indicts Cicero In 15 Area Explosions.” Plain Dealer. August 9, 1978.
- Hagan, John F. “8 Stores For Adults Sue Police Over Raids.” Plain Dealer. August 15, 1987.
- Molyneaux, David G. “City Seeking To Shut Adult Bookstores.” Plain Dealer. April 13, 1972.
- “Pipe Bomb Rips Back Door Off W. Side Adult Book Store.” Plain Dealer. August 1, 1978.
- Rollenhagen, Mark. “Judge Strips City of Peep-Show Licensing Law.” Plain Dealer. June 16, 1992.
- “Search Goes On For Suspects In Pipe Bombings.” Plain Dealer. August 10, 1978.
- “Warrensville Man Bomb Suspect.” Plain Dealer. August 2, 1978.